In an effort to learn more about metallic aliens that have been plaguing the planet for the past years, Dr. Noguchi and assistant Maki Agata try to bring to life a construct pieced together from various destroyed aliens. They recruit Takuto Kaneshiro, Maki's boyfriend at the college they both attend, into the project because of his talent for metallurgy. While Takuto is unhappy with Maki keeping secrets from him again, he reluctantly helps with the project — but in the process of reviving the monster that Noguchi has aptly called Frank (short for Frankenstein), unidentified soldiers invade the facility known as MORGUE. The soldiers cut the power, which leads to a power surge that violently brings Frank to life and causes an explosion which kills everyone in the facility — except Takuto.

"Mr. X" visits the scarred (emotionally and physically) Takuto in the hospital and offers him a chance to get his vengeance on the monster he blames for killing Maki and destroying his life. Months later, Lt. Ryu Soma is born from the ashes of Takuto's soul; he re-enters life as a military pilot for the organization known as FUNERAL, which deals with the attacking aliens (and has also recaptured Frank, who escaped after the explosion at MORGUE). It quickly becomes clear that Frank has become the best weapon FUNERAL has to defend against the aliens, which leaves Ryu torn between getting revenge for the woman he loved and protecting his newfound comrades.

Further complicating the picture is a young girl named Hattie; besides being the only person who can communicate with Frank, she also bears a striking resemblance to Maki. As it becomes apparent that Frank is more than a simple monster, Ryu and his FUNERAL comrades have to come to terms with questions of human identity, grief, and loss.

Argento Soma originally aired with 25 episodes, and was followed by the OVA "Alone and By Myself".

Gambit Roulette: Mr. XGen. Lawrence danced through the Gambit Pileup in the finale with the nothing worse to wear than a limp and a walking stick, but everything ended his way — and, to the everyone's surprise, that way was the best.

"Get out of Jail Free" Card: Refreshingly averted, when all the charade went up in smoke, Soma was court-martialed and got a six years sentence. Though, for all his troubles, he wasn't stripped of his rank and was even promoted while behind bars.

Good Scars, Evil Scars: Half of Soma's face was scarred in the accident. Which side is in focus is usually indicative of how heartless he's being at the time. Worth noting that he refused plastic surgery to have the scars removed.

Amusingly enough, at one point, Frank is in danger, and Soma is desperate to get close enough to finish him off. His teammates, however, interpret this is him trying to rescue Frank, and join in, ultimately succeeding in the 'rescue'.

Our Elves Are Better / Our Fairies Are Different: Hattie refers to Frank as "Y˘sei-kun," translated in Bandai's R1 release as "Mr. Elf," although "y˘sei" can also be translated as "fairy." Hattie's grandfather also makes wood carvings of elves and fairies he claims to have seen.

There is a short scene in episode 1 when we learn Takuto once applied to be an astronaut/pilot. Presumably he had some training.

Transforming Mecha: Justified; part of the reason why the SARGs can do this is so that the public won't be alarmed by their humanoid forms and mistake them for, say, the aliens that FUNERAL is fighting.

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